sadly, was Tory's going away party...he's moving back to Salt Lake City, boo...started things off DJ'ing at D-Structure while the Delicious Drips Crew were putting up their new show (opens this Friday BTW...it's a vinyl toy theme...should be a great party...come through to D-Struc at Haight and Fillmore for free drinks and music and amazing art!)...anyway, spinning records while dudes were painting on the walls and mounting stuff all over the place...the store looks amazing...from there we all mashed over to Hemlock for goodbye drinks and yadda yadda...it was a great crew, Lower Haight neighborhoodies in full effect, the D-Structure posse and the Edo girls all toasting Tory in a not too insanely crowded Hemlock. we all got pretty silly...i remember telling a story to Emma and this foxy Edo girl Jessica, i was laughing and tearing up so hard i was sort of on the precipace of blowing snot out of my nose, like, my adnoids were rattling...but i was so excited about my story i didn't really care...so i continue with the story totally about to launch a snot rocket and i'm laughing and crying and looking insane when my brother goes "dude, you're being naughty" and the story had to do with spanking so naturally i said "i know! naughty!" and he goes "no no, dude, you're fucking snotty...blow your nose...you're gross" and he hands me tissue and i blow...and the girls don't say anything but i must have looked like a total wreck...a snotty, red faced, crying, pervy idiot, herm...(i'm not usually this sloppy, i don't know what was up last night, but yeah, i was a bit sloppy)

and then i left with Emma and Jessica and my brother probably talking some kind of indecipherable babble the whole way home...i have no game, zero game...

in my apartment i decide to make myself a big bowl of chili and cheese and three eggs and some cheese toast...i eat it watching Fright Night...and i wake up feeling like you might expect after drinking all night and then eating a big rancid bowl of chili and three eggs and cheese toast...that is to say, i'm going to go on a fruit and nuts fast until saturday...and beer and smokes fast...Meg is visiting me in a month so i need to get ripped.

that's all for now, i'm blogging from my warehouse in the LH.

oh and PS, Tory gave me his Doolittle painting! can you believe that?! he's just all, i don't want this painting, you want it? Doolittle is a Lower Haight legend (probalby half of the sanctioned street art you see in the LH is his work)...and his art is far from cheap...so, an amazing gift from T-Rex, you'll be missed brother.

Pete Doolittle standing in front of some of his work (mine looks a lot like these)

me going pee and then flushing and then water rising really fast and then couldn't find a plunger and then cat poop and papertowel and my pee come flooding out of toilet onto the floor

me trying to wake a comotose Billy to tell him that i just flooded their LA (WEHO) toilet

Billy not-waking-up-at-all...me shaking Billy saying "dude, wake up! i just flooded your toilet...WAKE UP!!! WHERE'S THE PLUNGER?!!!" and Billy just totally not responding, me grabbing Billy's feet and tickling them with Logan laughing on the couch frantically trying to wake him up...Billy waking up and me saying "dude i just flooded your toilet, what should i do?" and Billy still totally asleep mode says "i'm cool..." and i say "WHAT?! wake up!" and Billy opens his eyes and smiles and flips me off with both hands...me thinking "this isn't working" and calling Meg to wake Billy up...Meg wakes Billy up after shouting "BILLY WAKE THE FUCK UP!" into his ear and they go into the bathroom and clean up my pee and cat poop and paper towel

later that night.

heading over to Tiny's in Hollywood proper in the crazy dump rain

paying 5 dollars for a Pabst in a can (LA!)

getting the coke-stare from these three dudes at the bar, one of them wearing a neon-bedazzled hoodie...fucking totally gacked out dudes...they looked scary Eastern European.

seeing the girl the coked out dudes were with pick up one of the dudes digital cameras and just totally chuck it out the bar door into oncoming traffic in the pouring rain

seeing same girl get into an arguement with one of the other dudes outside the bar grabbing an acoustic guitar and swinging at dudes head/ and or threatening to break the guitar on the sidewalk

seeing same girl then physically beat the shit out of one of the dudes in a doorway a block down...(he was okay though, he was coke-numb and laughing)

cut to

"this bar is wack, this bar is pre-fab, let's go"

cut to

Billy is totally swerved and wants to drive his car, Meg says "get out Billy," Billy says "hell no," Meg says "Billy get the ef' out of the car..." Billy says "okay"...Billy is in his socks for some reason, it's raining out, Billy doesn't get in the back seat but walks behind the car and opens the trunk and climbs in...from the trunk Billy is shouting "you're all a bunch of assholes! i'm in my fucking socks! do you know how far i had to walk in my socks to pick up the car?! far! really far! assholes! i don't give a shit...buy me new shoes...gurgle...those are my fucking shoes and they're wet! assholes! gurgle...where we going?!"...

we drive to a vodka bar called Lubich...me, James, Emma and Logan get out of the car...there is a line to get into the bar...this doesn't bode well...how the people in line are dressed doesn't bode well...girls are wearing heels (but like, LA heels) and there is 3 inches of water on the sidewalk, dudes are dressed in pastel stripy collard shirts and slacks...Emma says what were all thinking "hell to the no..."...Billy and Meg are trying to park the car so i run over and say "look, i know you're supposed to meet up with some friends here but i don't think any of us are comfortable with this bar..." Billy looks angry, Meg says "okay, let's go..."...we all pile back in...Emma gets a call from her friend Jason (by the by, Emma grew up in LA so...) who says "pick up some beer and come over..." we go to pick up beer at this neat Russian liquor store...i buy a six pack of Bud and a Butterfinger and a 3 dollar beanie...the guy rings me up and says "that'll be 56.50"...i say "uh..."...and he says "yeah?" and i say "its just a candy and a hat and some beer..." and he says "oh, this black label whiskey isn't yours...?" i say "no" he says "that'll be 10.50" i say "thanks..." i give Billy the Butterfinger hoping to cheer him up, he inhales it...Meg and Billy drop us off at Jason's place...we meet Jason, a very sweet guy with a very cool apartment...we drink beers and look at his family photos and goof off...Billy and Meg arrive and join in the fun...Billy seems to be in a much happier mood...we finish the beer and pack in the car and head back to Billy's. we raid the fridge, i eat leftover Lo Mein and a bagel...i pay for this dearly the next day.

Sunday.

we all sleep in and wake up and eat breakfast and drink coffee and lounge. we end up playing Wii Golf and Baseball and Tennis. Meg shit talks Logan so hard i think he's going to cry. Meg is the best shit talkin' girl i know. she's amazing and Billy is lucky to have her. Logan sort of warms up to the whole situation and starts giving it back to Meg. Meg takes it but still pretty much clobers Logan with lot's of emasculating jokes about sexual prowess etc...

around 4pm we head Downtown to try and find The Smell and a local bar.

Downtown is amazing. Downtown is like a real city vs. the rest of LA (not hating just saying). big buildings, gusty winds, a bit seedy, nice.

we park and set off looking for the venue. we spot a shady allyway behind two shady bars. we walk down the allyway and spot a warehouse looking space wtih graffiti all over the doors. we decide that this is the spot. onward looking for bars.

we decide not to go into either of the shady looking bars. these are Mexican bars and appear VERY local. we walk past one of the bars leaving the shady ally and see an armed security guard at the door. we think "yeah, let's not go in there..."

we walk to a chi chi bar called Peet's near by...the beers aren't too expensive and you can sit outside and smoke. we get beers and sit outside and smoke. James and Emma and Meg meet us at the bar and we have more beers and smokes and it's raining and cold and blustery out and we're all happy.

reading time is near so we all walk over to the ally where we think The Smell is located. turns out we were right, we see Joseph Mosconi (no photo?) at the door and introduce ourselves...Joseph is a super cool guy and he introduces us to The Smell folks and gives us the tour...he asks if we want to get a drink and we say yes...he says "there's this bar around the corner..." we say "the one with the armed security guard?" he says "yeah..." now that we're with a local we say "holy shit, let's go!"...we head over to the bar...the bar looks more like a cafeteria than a bar...it's huge and there is loud Bandas music blaring from their crazy huge sound system...the place is packed with Mexicans drinking and dancing. we are stared at a lot. we order our beers (Tecate with lime!) and grab a table...we sit and enjoy the Bandas...everybody is staring at us but not in a hostile way...just like a "these gringos must be lost" kind of way...Billy and Meg decide to do some Bandas dancing and head to the dance floor...they dance the Bandas and look good doing it...everybody is happy drinking their Tecate's and nodding their heads and chatting with Mexican people in Spanish "un Tecate por favor" (highschool Spanish natch...)...reading time is near so we leave.

back at The Smell...the place is packed! seriously, we were worried nobody was going to show because of the crazy storm...but no, the place was packed to the brim...Joseph introduced me to Ara Shirinyan and Matt Timmons...great dudes. chatted a bit about Demo Agrafiotis with Matt and Ara...looked at what Ara's been up to with his press etc...Matt invited us to do the LA Lit Podcast interview next time we were in LA...very nice. Joseph introduced me to Harold Abramowitz from Betalevel,again, great dude...Harold invited me to read at Betalevel in the near future, very nice...things are awesome...new people, new venue, poetry fans i've never seen or met, a great beer high in full effect etc.

the reading...Joseph introduces me, I read from Rude Girl for about 20 minutes...the second reader Mady Shutzman reads next, Logan reads last...Logan read from Stupid Birds as well as The Singers...Logan was pretty funny on stage...lots of big breathing, foot stomping and forboding stares into the audience...logan read his new two word poem "Vote Obama" is goes something like "vote/ Obama"...the reading is over and people are buying books and chatting us up and we feel great about the whole thing, people are complimenting Rude Girl and talking to me about ghosts and love etc...Joseph then comes up to me and puts some cash in my hand and says "here you go" and i say "what's this for?" and he says "for the reading" and i say "i didnt' even know we were getting paid" and he says "yeah, from the 5 dollar cover at the door"...and i'm thinking "gettin' paid for poetry is the bomb..."

Joseph, me, Logan, Billy and Meg head over to this place around the corner called Bar 107...i'm in heaven at this bar...this is the most SF i've seen in LA since we drove into town (which is lame in a way that i need SF in LA but...)...a very low key, non-prefab, dark, great jukebox kind of bar, very rock and roll...we have cheap beers and cheap shots and take photobooth pictures and play 80's arcade games (okay, photobooths and 80's arcade games is about as prefab as you can get but i'm not complaining)...and can i just say, Joseph Mosconi is the best Ms. Pacman player i've ever seen...he was trying to shrug it off but whatever...we went head to head on that bitch and he just killed me...dude has wrist skills for real, he's good, very very good, a wonder to watch...i killed, per usual, on Gallaga, getting to level 12 in just under 15 minutes (only a quater!)...but J. Mosconi is king on Ms. Pacman...we all danced around a bunch to the great music blaring out of the juke...a girl dancing next to me turned to me, gave me a wink and then growled...i think that was a good...my brother thought that was a good thing. we all bounced...Joseph went his way and me, Log, Emma and James went our way...

in the car from Bar 107 Emma was playing Joy Division...we were all singing Joy Division...Logan got offended when i started to improvise the lyrics...he said "hey, don't make fun of the postpunk, i don't make fun of all that hip hop you listen to..." i said "i'm not making fun, it's a homage!" logan was placated...i was very drunk so i was pulling my brother's hair and yanking on his seatbelt screaming "Dolce and Gabana! Dolce and Gabana!" i was doing that because Emma wears Dolce and Gabana glasses and i thought it was hilarious at the time...we head back to Jason's...we drink lot's more at Jason's...Logan and i decide to catch a cab on Sunset...we walk from Jason's to Sunset...when we hit Sunsent i start walking 'right' because that's what Jason and Emma said to do...Logan says "hey Johnny! we're supposed to go left!" i say "no, they said go right" he says "i don't care what they said, they're wroooong...it's left!" logan is very very very drunk, stink-eye drunk...i say "nonono, we're going right..." logan sits down on the sidewalk and says "nope! ima nota going any further...you're wrong, we're going left goddamnit and we're going left right now!!!" i keep walking...Logan gets up and follows me...we hit an intersection and hail a cab and tell the cab where to go...the cab driver is either an idiot or trying to bank on us...i have to call Billy like 4 times and correct the cab driver like 5 times on where he's going...i say "we're from San Francisco..."...we arrive, finally at Billy's...the cab ride was like 12 dollars, i hand the cab driver a 20 and say give me 9 back thinking that i was giving him an amazing tip...seriously, i wasn't trying to get over on the cab driver...in my mind i was tipping dude like 6 bucks...Logan leans over and whispers what i thought was "dude, you're tipping him 6 bucks..." to which i replied "i know, but it's cool, i'm on vacation..." turns out logan actually whispered "dude, you're only tipping him half a buck"...and then when we get out of the cab logan says "you just tipped that guy like 60 cents..." and i was like "no i didn't, i tipped him 6 bucks..." and then Logan does the math for me and i realize i'm a drunk San Franciscan idiot...i feel bad.

Logan and i get into our pj's and turn on the TV...i raid the fridge once again finding only BBQ sauce and Kraft cheese slices...i eat that standing up...blegh my poor digestive system...logan turns on some hockey and yells "HOCKEY...GAME OF THE FUTURE..." this makes me laugh very hard because he's totally serious...Logan is in full stink-eye mode...we turn on The Soup and he can't stop screaming at the tv "boo...you're not funny! you're a hack!!! i could write better material in my sleep...boo...not.funny.not.funny.not.funny..." i'm laughing my ass off and Logan looks like he's about to punch me in the face...Logan turns it to The Matrix Revolutions and just goes ape shit "WORST MOVIE EVER...FUCK YOU KEANU REEVES...B.O.R.I.N.G! B.O.R.I.N.G! ANY OF US COULD WRITE BETTER THAN THESE HACKS! THIS IS BULLSHIT...HOLY FUCK I'M PISSED, WHAT ARE YOU EATING, WHAT IS THAT? BBQ SAUCE? I WANNA BAGEL YOU ASSHOLE...MORPHEUS CAN SUCK MINE!!!!" etc...we go to bed (pass out)

Monday was uneventful...more lounging around the apartment, watching Obama videos, drinking coffee with Billy and Meg etc...picked up Emma and James from Jason's around 2 and hit the road for the Bay...did the usual roadtrip I-5 stuff the whole way back: played Yatzee, had a Bonjovi singalong, ate at In n' Out Burger, ate candy etc. arrived back in SF in just over 6 hours...not bad at all...all in all it was a fabulous and much need mini-vacation...huge thanks to Joseph "Ms. Pacman" Mosconi for inviting us down...and thanks to all the LA poeterati for being such supporters...looking forward to seeing you guys again soon.

Jan 25, 2008

and to answer your question Laura, BOTH BOTH the magazine ran for 12 issues while i was in Boulder, for now at least it's retired...but good news on the horizon, BOTH BOTH is being resurrected as a reading series hosted hopefully not too infrequently at my place in the Lower Haight...the kickoff reading is Saturday Feb 9 at 7pm featuring Alli Warren and Michael Slosek.

You are invited to the next installment ofTHE SMELL LAST SUNDAY READING SERIES

SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 2008

With featured readers

John SAKKISMady SCHUTZMANLogan Ryan SMITH

The Smell is located at247 S. Main StreetBetween 2nd and 3rd StreetThe entrance is through the back, by way of the alley, west of Main Street.

The doors will open at 6:30 pm. Five dollars at the door.

A bit more about the featured readers:

John Sakkis's recent chapbooks include Rude Girl (Duration Press), The Moveable Ones (Transmission Press) as well as the art book post bulletin (Taxt Press). A new chapbook, Gary Gygax, is forthcoming from Cy Gist Press. With Angelos Sakkis he translates the work of Athenian multi-media artist Demosthenes Agrafiotis, Chinese Notebook being their latest. Recent poetry, interviews, translations and reviews and have appeared in New American Writing, Aufgabe, Mirage #4/ Period(ical), Dusie, The Poker, Beyond Baroque, Hot Whiskey, Shampoo, The Bedside Guide To No Tell Motel, Bombay Gin, Shuffleboil, and Mipoesias. He curates the BOTH BOTH reading series in his apartment in the Lower Haight, SF and DJ's under the moniker ONLYMERK! having opened for Outkast, Heiroglyphics, Black Eyed Peas and the Living Legends among others.

Mady Schutzman is writer and theater artist. She has worked for over 25 years as free lance practitioner of the interactive theatre techniques of Brazilian director Augusto Boal, and co-edited two volumes of essays on his work with Routledge. In 2006, she wrote UPSET! -- a Boal-inspired, Brechtian comedy about the L.A. riots -- which was performed at REDCAT by 30 youth from the Plaza de la Raza youth program. She has published scholarly essays and creative non-fiction in several anthologies and journals including Black Clock, The Drama Review, Errant Bodies, Theatre Topics, and The Journal of Medical Humanities. Mady writes a lot about ambiguity and paradox, comedy, jokes, and trickery as forms of resistance, divination practices and performative tropes like ventriloquism, ritual, and hysteria. She is currently working on a film about the Socialist City a utopian collective started in the high desert 70 miles from L.A. in 1914. She teaches at California Institute of the Arts.

Logan Ryan Smith lives in San Francisco where he publishes Transmission Press chapbooks and the poetry mag, small town. He is author of 2 books of poetry, THE SINGERS (Dusie Press Books), and STUPID BIRDS, which he released under the Transmission Press imprint. His poetry has been published in New American Writing, Bombay Gin, Hot Whiskey Magazine, the tiny, string of small machines, Sorry for Snake, as well as numerous other mags, and also in the anthologies, Bay Poetics (Faux Press) and The Meat Book (Hot Whiskey Press).

no he's not, Lloyd is totally standing in a park...we see where Diane Court lives when Lloyd drops her off after the party at Eric Stoltz's house...she lives in the burbs, her street looks like it could be in Walnut Creek, definitely not next to a gigantor park (with picnic tables and bbq stations to boot!)...wtf Cameron Crowe?

Jan 23, 2008

Small Town is the George Romero of lit magazines...it's totally undead.

"As you all know, THE MAYOR OF SMALL TOWN is in a perpetual financial crisis but is STILL DETERMINED to bring ye masses of the subculture this thing called: OTHER PEOPLE'S POETRY.

A-A-A-A-MAZING!

And just what can I do, you ask, to get my hot little subcultural hands on this piece of sweet poetry meat? Well, it's simple, I tell ya. All ya do is send a check made out to Logan Ryan Smith for the wee, wee price of $3.50 and send it here:

711 Leavenworth St., #35San Francisco, CA 94109

[or visit logan's blog for paypal, ed.]

Don't dilly-dally, dont' delay! Get to it before SMALL TOWN XII, THE COMEBACK ISSUE, is all gone. You wouldn't want to miss the magic and daredevil stunts performed by such players as:

the reading is to commemorate the release of the brand new chapbooks by Alli "you got Sunchips up in this piece?" Warren and Michael "fuck a yoga ball" Slosek...

here's what Slosek has to say about Warren's new Duration chap No Can Do "so i'm not a businessman,i'm a business....man Said she liked my necklace, started relaxin now that's what the fuck i call a chain reaction ma, cry me a river, build a bridge, and GET OVER IT! I've got an appetite for destructionbut i scrape the plate If you dont gimme heaven i'll raise hell.. 'till its heaven Niggas is hotheads and the bullets is heat seekingThis is food for thought, u do the dishes!"

WHAAAAT?!

and here's what Warren had to say about Slosek's new Katalanche chap Z Formation "so i switched my motto, instead of saying "Fuck tomorrow" That buck that bought a bottle could've struck the lotto I got more kicks than a baby in a mother's stomach I Never sleep, cuz sleep is the cousin of death Life is everyman's kingdom We should take time and think, the bombs and tanks makes mankind extinct"

DAAAMN!!!

if those quotes don't convince you then the plentiful beer and wine and whiskey and record playing (post) and dancing and smoking (in the kitchen) and comfy abode should...please some, more details to come.

Jan 21, 2008

Jan 20, 2008

currently listening to The Doors first album, if you know me you know how i feel about The Doors...like many other pubescent kids The Doors were really my first independent foray into music fandom...found out about them on my own, developed a serious devotion to the band, bought everything "The Doors" i could lay down chedder for, had the giant psychedelic Morrison poster hanging on my wall, would be sporting 1 of 6 Doors (Cupertino flea market what?!) t-shirts on any given day of the week...owned and read the complete The Doors lyrics book, owned Oliver Stone's The Doors and watched it under the influence i-can't-count-how-many-times...to summerize, all the cliches you can think of relating to a Doors fan, that was me...but, BUT i credit Jim Morrison and The Doors for my interest in poetry in general...after i got into The Doors, Sophmore year, i bought a pretty little cloth journal in Chinatown and started my first poetry notebook...and the rest is history...i spent everyday writing in that thing, sometimes i would take my lunches in my car so i would have the luxery of writing in privacy...that was my life, poetry and "experimenting" and The Doors...it's *sort* of embarassing but not really, every kid has to have that band, beit Joy Division or NWA or The Ramones or Nirvana., we all had that band that sort of catapulted us from pubescence to post-pubescence...The Doors were that band for me...they represented everything mystical about being a teenager, that syncretic thrust that compels a kid to want to experience *everything* he can get his hands on just for the sake of experience...when i listen to The Doors now i still get that shiver...i got to see Ray Manzarek play a solo show at The Great American Music Hall when i was at SFSU in 2002...and even after all those years it was like seeing a childhood god incarnate...seriously, i had lot's of perspective at that point but still...it was magical...

and this post concludes my Sunday afternoon bender...i'm going to make some chili and watch The Brood with my space heater blaring...xoxo.

currently listening to Freestyle Orchestra Don't Tell Me...and yet another record i found at Haight and Pierce...(by the way, every record i'm listening to this afternoon is new vinyl, meaning, i might have heard the music before but these are all new vinyl purchases/finds...i have a box that i store all new vinyl in and listen to in order of when found/puchased)...so, Freestyle Orchestra, cheesy ass early 90's House...i'm in love. see, lot's of people might find this shit unlistenable, and i sympathize, i certainly wouldn't mix this into a set but the collector/archivest in me just screams "yes *yes* YES!"...i'm a fan of House, specifically the House i grew up with, mid 90's SF Tribal House (Wicked Crew), Disco House (House Blends Crew), and Deep House (anything on Twisted America put out between 94 and 99)...shit brings me back to 2nd and Jackson or "the Deli" or Acme Warehouse on Minna (funny story...Kevin Killian, who lives on Minna, came to my 24th birthday party, when i introduced him to my sister i said "and yeah, me and Deme used to party on Minna..." to which he responded "did you guys used to be crackheads?") or Homebase (burned down) or any other myriad old school party spots...don't listen to the genre much anymore but when i find old, neglected, possibly treasure troved free House vinyl posted up all shivery in the rain, i can't help myself from rescuing it...

currently listening to the Raiders of the Lost Ark soundtrack...another find from that rainy night dig on the corner of Haight and Pierce...this is one of those scores that is so imbued in my adolescent soul that i can pretty much hum the entire thing from memory...like The Lost Boys or Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins or Beetlejuice or Rocky IV i know this shit back to front...the cool thing about finding this soundtrack on the street is that it's *not* a 25cent bin record...in fact, the Raiders of the Lost Ark soundtrack is pretty damn near impossible to find on vinyl...so, by default finding this bitch made my night...(i think my use of profanity is going up with the number of beers i consume...i'm on 4)...if RUN DMC and Bon Jovi and DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince were the pop soundtrack to my 80's adolescence then John Williams definitely is the cinematic/epic equivalent...hell, in the 8th grade for Christmas i even asked for, and recieved, the tape cassette soundtrack to Jurasic Park (which i still have, i'm a natural collector)...i would always try to put on airs and say i prefered the period piece scores of James Horner (Glory anyone? one of 4 tapes i brought to Greece when i was 11) but who the ef' was i kidding anyway...John Williams rocks the spot and always will...ohh ohhh ohhhh, i'm on the track where Indy's porter freaks out because of all the tarantulas crawling on their backs...go Indy! show em' what you're working with!

currently listening to Roberta Flack featuring Donny Hathaway...Flack is one of those artists that you will ALWAYS find in the 25cent bin at Goodwill, Salvation Army or St. Vincent de Paul...that bin is predictably dominated by Flack, The Doobie Brothers, Herbert Laws, Feleciano!, Earth Wind & Fire, the Rocky Soundtrack and Dolly Parton ad nauseum. that being said, i'm not sure why so many people trash their Flack records, i mean, Flack wrote "Killing Me Softly" and "Where Is The Love." she's a real talent who wrote really talented songs...i found this collabo with D. Hathaway on the street last week at Haight and Pierce...it was a rainy night and i had just gotten off work when i spotted 150 or so records perched on the sidewalk...naturally i began to salivate and got to digging...a spun out self professed "drug dealer" soon spotted me and the abandoned records and asked if he could join in...i said "sure" he said "fuck yeah homie!"...i spotted the Flack, picked up the Flack, and put the Flack in my bag when the drug dealer turned to me and said "hey homie, i'll give you 45 bucks if you let me store some of these records at your place..." sha-tree right?! so i said "sorry, i live in the East Bay" not detecting the lie he said "that's cool homie, me too..."...the drug dealer then said to himself (with the hopes of me overhearing) "shit nigga, i got to get to the Endup...i gots to get rid of some pills..." i almost told dude that the Endup doesn't open till 6am but c'est la vie right...anyway, Roberta Flack is a lot of fun, like Summer time with a big ol' glass of spiked lemonade fun...and she made some killer disco records to boot. so, next time you find youself digging through a pile of round-worm ridden Dolly Parton records at the Goodwill, and you spot a Roberta Flack record (trust me, you will) do yourself a favor and throw down that quarter and buy it...

currently listening to a very cool compilation of folk music recorded in the 1950's put out by Minos Records, No 1 Greece...i found this at my favorite record shop in the City, Recycled Records, at Masonic and Haight...a pan-Hellenic adventure featuring the traditional sounds of Crete, The Saronic Islands, The Sporades, The Cyclades, The Dodecanese, Ionian Islands, Korinth, Argolis, Central Greece, Epiros and Macedonia/ Thrace...my blue and white heart is all a flutter...

sadly i don't think i can make it, yet again, to the the 2008 Translator's Symposium on Paros...got the invite a couple days ago but they need confirmation of attendance in the next two weeks, an impossibility for me...Angelos might attend, him and his wife Anna might already be in Athens so it's really only a quick hop-skip to Paros. i miss Siarita Kouka, and i'll miss seeing Demosthenes. once again Susan Gevirtz along with the Greek House Of Literature is hosting and once again it's bound to be an experience.

i'm only two beers into my Sunday bender and three blog postings...i need to catch up.

ephemera...last night i watched Cube: Zero, the prequel to Cube and Cube 2 Hypercube...it wasn't that bad, certainly not as silly as Hypercube...it's what Hostel 2 sort of did, try and show the machinations of the machine (har!)...like Hostel 2 the movie had promise, they just needed to go further with it, the director lost focus somewhere in the execution (har!)...

currently listening to Daniel Johnston's Hi, How Are You...High Wire Music recently rereleased it on vinyl, first time in 15 years...holy moly right? right.

i think i'm about to go on a Sunday bender...Angelos and i have been working on Demo's new book Tora 1/3 ("Now 1/3") so i have that spread out in front of me...also have Trapped In The Closet 13-22 in the DVD, thanks mom...have a 12 pack of beer in the fridge and an ash tray on the coffee table...yippee!

just got a text from Tory "hey! come to the shop! bring records and mixer and i'll provide the beer..."

Jan 18, 2008

Prarie Dog was stimulating, two hot shit lead singer/banjo playing rocker girls breaking hearts. i called dibs on the banjo player on the left, Tory called dibs on the guitar slinger-singer on the right...10 mintues later i wished i called dibs on the lead singer. hot. they were also really good, like the love child of Cat Power and Beth Gibbons good, lot's of spunk tempered by a subdued sense of gloom.

The Blank Tapes reminded me of puberty. their lead singer looked a little like Dan Pussey! or the guy who played the homocidal un-dead cop/dad in Pet Cemetary 2. but maybe they were having an off night.

Band Of Annuals went on WAY to late for a Thursday night, my brother and Emma had to bounce, Roxy and i bounced mid set...but per usual they were amazing, their lead singer looks like a cross between Vincent Gallo and Rivers Cuomo...

Amnesia, the venue, looked like a horror movie, in a good way...like a cross between Hell House and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, like a cross between Vincent Prince and Ed Gein...couldn't tell if those were Prayer Flags or animal pelts streamed above the stage...it helped that the only lighting was red-bulb lighting...it didn't help that it was a fucking beer/wine/san gria/soju bar...yuk. Roxy and i travelled to Boston, MA (aka The Phoenix, next door) for a hard drink...The Phoenix is like TGI Friday's or Appleby's, everyone there wearing those pre-fab beat up Red Sux hats, the girls sporting those velour "Juicy" track suits and patent heels, g.r.o.s.s....the people there worry me, i got worried by the people there. and then i stood in front of a locked utility closet for 5 minutes thinking it was the men's bathroom...i had my whiskey shot and fled.

i'm really tired right now, i'm listening to Elusive and Josh Koslow and it's putting me to sleep. heavy beats, slow trumpet = Little Nemo. i'm waiting for the EDD dudes to call and badger me about my finances. speaking of EDD, you know anybody who's hiring? i'm thinking of looking at Copy Writing positions. i have some experience, i edited (re wrote) the Calendar section, the events section and the celebrity philanthropy (hi Robin Williams, hi George Lucas!) sections for Benefit Magazine. i'm fucking good. i also wrote copy for products like biodegradable lipstick containers, Jessica Simpson is a fan! no shit, i'm good at copy...my managing editor at Benefit, no not Ruby Rippy-Tourk (who i used to flirt with on a daily until Gavin Newsom salted my game), said i had a knack for making things "sexy..."...i'm hella good at "sexy" people. hire me for my sexiness. i'm also a really really good kisser. hire me for my lip skills.

fuck, i think i'm delerious, i'm on 4 hours sleep and a lot of drinks and maybe 4 good games of pool at Waizema (best bar in the W.E./NoPa ad infinitum)...i should go before i embarass myself.

poet's theater tonight, i hear dudes are going to get naked, dudes i'm friends with, not sure how i feel about that.

Jan 16, 2008

Jan 15, 2008

You are invited to the next installment ofTHE SMELL LAST SUNDAY READING SERIES

SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 2008

With featured readers

John SAKKISMady SCHUTZMANLogan Ryan SMITH

The Smell is located at247 S. Main StreetBetween 2nd and 3rd StreetThe entrance is through the back, by way of the alley, west of Main Street.

The doors will open at 6:30 pm. Five dollars at the door.

A bit more about the featured readers:

John Sakkis's recent chapbooks include Rude Girl (Duration Press), The Moveable Ones (Transmission Press) as well as the art book post bulletin (Taxt Press). A new chapbook, Gary Gygax, is forthcoming from Cy Gist Press. With Angelos Sakkis he translates the work of Athenian multi-media artist Demosthenes Agrafiotis, Chinese Notebook being their latest. Recent poetry, interviews, translations and reviews and have appeared in New American Writing, Aufgabe, Mirage #4/ Period(ical), Dusie, The Poker, Beyond Baroque, Hot Whiskey, Shampoo, The Bedside Guide To No Tell Motel, Bombay Gin, Shuffleboil, and Mipoesias. He curates the BOTH BOTH reading series in his apartment in the Lower Haight, SF and DJ's under the moniker ONLYMERK! having opened for Outkast, Heiroglyphics, Black Eyed Peas and the Living Legends among others.

Mady Schutzman is writer and theater artist. She has worked for over 25 years as free lance practitioner of the interactive theatre techniques of Brazilian director Augusto Boal, and co-edited two volumes of essays on his work with Routledge. In 2006, she wrote UPSET! -- a Boal-inspired, Brechtian comedy about the L.A. riots -- which was performed at REDCAT by 30 youth from the Plaza de la Raza youth program. She has published scholarly essays and creative non-fiction in several anthologies and journals including Black Clock, The Drama Review, Errant Bodies, Theatre Topics, and The Journal of Medical Humanities. Mady writes a lot about ambiguity and paradox, comedy, jokes, and trickery as forms of resistance, divination practices and performative tropes like ventriloquism, ritual, and hysteria. She is currently working on a film about the Socialist City a utopian collective started in the high desert 70 miles from L.A. in 1914. She teaches at California Institute of the Arts.

Logan Ryan Smith lives in San Francisco where he publishes Transmission Press chapbooks and the poetry mag, small town. He is author of 2 books of poetry, THE SINGERS (Dusie Press Books), and STUPID BIRDS, which he released under the Transmission Press imprint. His poetry has been published in New American Writing, Bombay Gin, Hot Whiskey Magazine, the tiny, string of small machines, Sorry for Snake, as well as numerous other mags, and also in the anthologies, Bay Poetics (Faux Press) and The Meat Book (Hot Whiskey Press).

Jan 14, 2008

BOA played D-Structure a few months ago and blew me away...whiskey drenched, slide guitar, Utah plains country ballads...really gorgeous stuff...i'm going, want to join? i'm talking to you James and Emma and Roxy and Brandon Brown and Alli and Logan...Tory and i are going for sure so if you feel like mashing over together let's make a night of it...

Jan 13, 2008

the reading was a blast. Rob Halpern is the sweetest, thanks again Rob! i could listen to Lee talk about Hasidic food all night. Suzanne Stein called me an exhibitionist, among other good things in her very cool introduction, thanks Suzanne! i introduced Alli Warren to my family as my girlfriend. Brandon Brown checked me on that. Taylor Brady hosted a very nice reception with tasty soft cheeses and Medjool dates, thanks Taylor! my sister and brother and Mom and Thea Rita and Theo Angelos and roommate all came out to support, thanks fam! Mark Linenthal was great to read with, seriously, what an honor. the Last Laugh crew made me feel VIP with the free beers. i had a great time, yamas.

Jan 7, 2008

Come out for the next in a series of occasional readings at the LastLaugh Café and hear two local but rarely heard poets:

Mark Linenthal and John Sakkis@ The Last Laugh Café1551 Dolores (corner of Valley, btn 28th and 29th)Saturday, January 124 – 6 pm

I've been anticipating this event for a long time. Mark Linenthal--aformer director of the Poetry Center--recently turned 85, and whilehis last book was published some twenty years ago, his commitment topoetry in general, and to Oppen and Stevens in particular, remains asstrong as ever. As for John Sakkis, most of us know him--indeed, he'sa faithful presence in the local poetry scene--but few of us have everheard him read, and considering his cornucopia of new chap titles,it's time to change that!

--

Mark Linenthal is the author of two books of poems, Growing Light(Black Thumb Press, 1979) and The Man I Am Watching (e.g. Books,1987). He was married to the poet Frances Jaffer and he taught at SanFrancisco State University from 1954-1992, where he also directed thePoetry Center during the politically tumultuous late sixties and earlyseventies.

John Sakkis has two recent chapbooks, Rude Girl (Duration Press) andThe Moveable Ones (Transmission Press). He also has two chapbooksforthcoming early in 2008: Gary Gygax (Cy Gist Press) and postbulletin (Taxt). John is from the 925 and lives in the 415.

The Last Laugh Café is at 1551 Dolores St. in SF (corner of Doloresand Valley, between 28th and 29th) and it's easily accessible by BART(24th Street) and/or any of the Mission street buses.

this seems to have been the year of the novel, particularly "the year of the novel that you were supposed to read as an adolescent but never did because you were too busy "experimenting" and listening to The Doors and Spice 1 and DJ Dan and breaking bones and getting suspended"...novels in this category include 1984, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and The Last Temptation Of Christ among others...

so, in an act of extreme unfairness i'm going to do away with top 3's (see Steve Evans's Attention Span for my top 11) and go straigt for the throat with a #1 pick for each genre of form listed...

#1 Chapbook- a poem a movie & a poem- Nick Moudry

#1 Graphic Novel- Twentieth Century Eightball- Daniel Clowes

#1 Lit. Mag- Sulphur #1- ed. Clayton Eshelman

#1 Poetry Book- I Have Not Been Able To Get Through To Everyone- Anna Moschovakis

#1 Prose Book- 1984- George Orwell

#1 Drama- The Best Stage Scenes For Men From The 1980's- ed. Jocelyn A. Beard

and here's the list in toto (in decending order from earliest read to latest read):

1. Entropic Liberties- Jonathan Skinner and Jane Sprague

2. New Couriers- Dana Ward

3. Heart On A Tripod- Kaia Sand

4. Black Hole- Charles Burns

5. Surface Tension A 10 Day Tryst- Scott Glassman/ Mackenzie Carignan

6. The Listening Lost- Mackenzie Carignan

7. Naked- David Sedaris

8. In Fortune- Lauren Levin/ Jared Stanley/ Catherine Theis

9. Late May- Jill Stengel

10. Autoimmunity- Eleni Stecopoulos

11. Mirage #137

12. Mysteries Of Small Houses- Alice Notley

13. Riders On The Storm- John Densmore

14. Transit Rock- George Albon

15. Bird & Forest- Brent Cunningham

16. Sleepwalk- Adrian Tomine

17. France- Katalin Molnar trans. Stacy Doris

18. The Sandman Fables And Reflections- Neil Gaiman

19. Mirage #138

20. The Symetries- Francois Luong/ Lauren Kohne

21. Game Of Shadows- Mark Fainaru-Wada/ Lanace Williams

22. Spark Generators II- ed. Jon "Bean" Hastings

23. Ice Haven- Daniel Clowes

24. Atlantis- Mark Doty

25. Mirage #139

26. Much Like You Shark- Logan Ryan Smith

27. Traceland- Mark Lamoureux

28. The Gilles Poem: Winter 2006 Collection- Sabrina Calle

29. The Collected Works Of Steven Orth- Steve Orth

30. Small Town PZA Vol. 2

31. Oh My Goddess! The Earth Goddess- Kosuke Fujishima

32. Transfer #8

33. 908-1070- Brandon Brown

34. Read Only Memory- Liz Waldner

35. Autobiography Of A Stutterer- Joseph S. Cooper

36. The Death Of Speedy- Jaime Hernandez

37. Transfer #9

38. Bombay Gin #32

39. Bimbo Jim #2

40. Theories Of Translation An Anthology Of Essays From Dryden To Derrida- ed. Rainer Schulte/ John Biguenet

Jan 2, 2008

worked until 6 and then came home to an empty apartment because the roommate is in Chicago so i popped an Anchor Steam and put on Led Zep and then the new Interpol and then Wings and then The Psychedelic Furs and i'm not going to mention which albums (aside from "the new Interpol") because i've already shelved them and don't want to get up for details and then smoked some cigs and had more Anchor and then played with my new PSR-s700 for a while and then worked out the last kinks of my book Rude Girl feeling really good about the work i did i treated myself to a big ass bowl of Chili and cheese and a toasty space heater and a bunch of crackle corn that went straight to my burgeoning holiday man tits and then watched disc 5 of the American Queer As Folk thinking "does this show really suck this bad, i liked it when i was 19 but...nobody acts human..." and then i went to bed and then i woke up at 11:38pm and thought "who the fuck cares..." and went back to bed...

the next day i watched Poetry In Motion, that awesome Ron Mann documentary, thanks mom, and some episodes of Fishing With John, thanks mom...FWJ is one of my favorite shows of all time (stumbled upon it at 14 on IFC not knowing anthing about John Lurie or The Lounge Lizards and was completely confused but totally immersed) and my mom bought the complete series for me for Christmas...then i ate some tuna salad and showered and played with my PSR-s700 for a few hours and then left the house and skated around the Lower Haight for a while and then met up with my brother and Emma at The Page and played pool and gossiped about neighborhood gossip and then came home and watched approx. 18 minutes of The Debaters and then passed out...

today i worked at Empire until 6 and then went to buy some beer at the corner store and was approched by Dante, one of the local (Lower Haight) dealers who asked me if i wanted to play some pool...so i went into Molotov's (the bar where crack dealer and punk rocker go "oy oy" together) and bought a beer and played pool with Dante for about half an hour and then bounced to the corner store again to buy some beer and walked home and read a story about the intense rain storms heading for the Bay Area that are supposed to last until Sunday with something like 50 mph winds and 70 mph winds in the hills...and i just finished listening to Richard Hell and the Voidoids, thanks mom! and then the Eurythmics and now Jesus Christ Superstar, thanks mom...my mom buys me records for every holiday and she's pretty good at knowing what's up, here's a photo of my mom "knowing what's up" throwing the westsider for real,except for Jesus Christ Superstar which was an impulse buy from Half Price Books in Concord, but she also bought me the Rocky soundtrack (which i already had) and some Hugo Montenegro so her heart was in the right place...and now i think i'm going to go to my room and turn on my space heater and maybe eat some trail mix and an apple and read some Love And Rockets and hit the hay...

and now i leave you with this KFC portrait i took in my kitchen on Superbowl Sunday ('06) in Boulder, CO with Jerimiah Bowen and Akilah Oliver full of The Colonel sappin' Pabst on my couch...it's titled Superbowl Boulder, CO and it's hanging in my bathroom...

Jan 1, 2008

The Bowery Poetry Club presents a rare East Coast reading by Larry Kearney.

Saturday, January 12th, at three pm.

Five—Robert Creeley: "This is a primal geography wherein all the terms of the so-called world gain articulation and a place. And his propositions will haunt you, or bless you, forever."

Stephanie Young: "All the mysteries are here—chiropractic effects on the air, cards falling in and out of place, a fire poking holes in itself to burn hotter. Larry Kearney's poems say there's nothing that can't come in here if it's required. Then the wind and a ball and the sound of a light moving through the room."

Kevin Killian: "His ear is uncanny, tuned with perfect fidelity to culture high and low, to all the temptations of language and heaven. His curiosity about form and metric have turned his work into a palace of music. Some people say, 'We don't have to a poet to match William Carlos Williams,' but I don't break a sweat, as long as Larry Kearney's alive and writing.”

David Meltzer: “Kearney is one of those unsung cats who has been producing intelligent thoughtful snarly deeply musical poetry, deeply felt wryly wrought astute poetry of the first rank, for decades for a select few—you're in for a rare treat.”